


Strays

by Skavvie



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dubious Consent, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Homophobic Language, Minor Character Death, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-10 08:57:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13498756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skavvie/pseuds/Skavvie
Summary: (Fuck i suck and summaries)Peridot's life is interrupted when her roommate brings home a stranger





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally buckling down and trying to do another longish series

Garnet taking in strays was nothing unusual; the soft spoken woman seemed to have an insatiable desire to help people. Peridot knew that from experience having been one of the lost souls the dark haired woman had taken under her wing. They had met freshman year of high school. Peridot the neurotic transfer student with a chip on her shoulder and Garnet the stoic boxer tasked with showing her around. Those early days were rocky to say the least mostly because of Peridot’s tendency to treat anything she wasn’t familiar with as a threat. She vividly remembered going so far as to call the tall girl a “filthy war machine” in gym class because she was embarrassed over her poor performance in the fitness test. As her training partner Garnet endured the brunt of Peridot's inability to cope with failing to meet other's expectations. Amethyst, one of Garnet’s many friends, had been livid at the exchange and had to be restrained from attacking the blonde. Embarrassed and fearing for her safety she locked herself in the school's gender neutral bathroom for over an hour. Through continued interaction the pair were able to slowly feel each other out until they could safely call each other friends. 

Senior year Peridot came out to her mother after a heated argument about prom of all things. Discontent with her daughter's adamant refusal to date anyone acceptable it was arranged that Peridot would be bringing the youngest son of one of her mother's business partners. The young man had proven in the past to be unaffected by Peri's resting bitch face and prickly demeanor. Ms. Diamond, who had been hoping to spark a financially advantageous romance, did not take kindly to having her plans ruined. The mention of the term "conversion therapy" segued into a heated argument between the two women that could be heard for three houses in either direction. Eventually an ultimatum was made; the teenager would tow the line or she could pack her bags. Peridot would have found herself sleeping on the streets if Garnet hadn’t stepped in. Four years later they still lived together in a small apartment in Beach City; Peridot working full time while earning her master’s degree and Garnet working full time as a boxing trainer and doing fights on the side. Once and a while the blonde would get nostalgic and reach out to see how her mother was doing. On the days that Goldie would bother answering she would hang up after asking if her daughter was done with "her lesbian phase". 

In all that time the dark skinned woman never stopped helping those around her taking in people and animals alike. Kittens were fostered in reckless defiance of her allergies to any sort of animal dander. When her friend Pearl’s on again off again love interest, Rose Quartz, died during childbirth Garnet stepped in as a rock for the lithe fencer to anchor herself to. Greg Universe, the boy's father, was a hapless musician living out of his car. Without Rose he could barely take care of himself let alone a child so Pearl took on the role of Steven's mother. Why she did it when Rose Quartz clearly didn't value their relationship enough to remain faithful was unclear. The one time Peridot dared ask about it she received a harsh scolding from Garnet for being insensitive. For almost a month the apartment was full of sobbing; very little of it coming from the newborn staying in the living room. Peridot found herself idly charting Pearl’s moods as a way to keep her temper in check; in her mind it was the only way to survive the crying, singing, and singing while crying. Such efforts at order were difficult to maintain since the waif of a woman switched moods faster than Peridot could track them. 

Strange as it was that was just how her mind worked, everything had a pattern to it. Where others looked at her room and saw chaos Peridot saw objects ordered by shape and color. Daily activities were broken down into easily repeatable rituals that felt physically painful to skip. Deviations to her routine only happened under extreme circumstances like that day she had to skip her morning coffee stop because the shop was closed. All throughout her morning programming course Peridot's hands itched for the familiar feel of the missing cardboard cup. The distraction was so extreme that she couldn't focus on what her professor was saying. Since the coffee shop was also her stop before heading home for the day she was once again thrown off. To kill time she ended up pacing the quad in front of the theater until it no longer felt too early to leave campus. By the end of the day she felt like a thousand wasps had built a nest between her ears and were buzzing constantly. 

At least baby Steven was chill, he never complained about her being up all night coding or going off on tangents about aliens. There were no awkward questions about why she only bought shampoos with green on the label. In fact it seemed like the only time Steven himself was upset at all was when someone around him showed signs of being unhappy. Steven’s father Greg tended to avoid the apartment whenever Pearl was home for obvious reasons. Peridot didn’t dislike him per-se but she did detest his habit of randomly breaking into songs that would get stuck in her head for days. He was a doting father though even if he was struggling too much financially to actually raise his son. A harsh slap of reality forced the man to come to terms with the fact that he'd never make it big as a rock star. Musical talent wasn't enough to keep formula in tiny Steven's belly so Greg begrudgingly got a job washing cars. Peridot was a little ashamed to admit even to herself that she was glad he had given up on his dreams. Illogical pursuits were wastes of time that could lead to nothing except disappointment. 

Shortly after Steven’s first birthday Pearl announced that they were moving into a house nearby with her old friend Amethyst. As happy as Peridot was to have the living room back to normal she found herself missing the company. On the nights where she couldn't manage to sleep Peridot could wander out and whisper vent to baby Steven. Sometimes Pearl would also be awake and the blonde would sit on the couch while Pearl gushed about her days studying astronomy. It was honestly a shame, in Peri's opinion, that Pearl had dropped out of university in order to raise Steven. Her passion for discovery could have easily taken her to a career with NASA. Hell she could have also been a master engineer given the speed at which she was able to grasp complex equations. Instead she spent her days getting vomited on and her nights crying over a dead woman that didn't really love her. Sure she would often talk about resuming her education once Steven was older however the statistics were not on her side. 

Garnet spent a lot of her time away from the apartment either going to school, working, or spending time with her parents. Ruby and Sapphire doted on their daughter to the point that Peridot found it nauseating. Perhaps it was her cold upbringing talking but she couldn't help but be annoyed when they would call despite living in the same city. Surprise visits were officially the worst as far as the technician was concerned. Even hiding in her room with headphones on she could still hear Ruby going off about something. Still she couldn't get too upset since they had taken her in during her turbulent teen years. Not much had changed about the pair in that time; they were as disgustingly affectionate as ever. Ruby's afro was going grey at the temples and her brown eyes now sported prominent smile lines. Sapphire's left eye, which had always been partially blind, had finally given in and was removed. 

Yes Garnet had an established pattern of helping people so it shouldn’t have come to a surprise for Peridot to come home to a stranger in their living room. She was lucky for the faint dawn light coming in through the windows or else she would have probably tripped over her. The stranger in question was a scrawny thing with shaggy blue hair and a gleaming silver septum piercing in her button nose. More silver decorated the lobe of her left ear its glittering presence unable to draw the eye away from the large bruises on the side of her face. She was nude from the waist up ribs wrapped in white bandages that stood in stark contrast to her light brown skin. Long legs were housed in a ripped pair of faded blue jeans that looked like they needed a wash. Once Peridot noticed the first few bruises her eyes darted around to more: finger marks in the neck, a split lip, what appeared to be a bite mark around one nipple. An orange band encircled the stranger's right wrist; without inspecting it closely Peridot could only assume it was some kind of hospital tag. Laying on its side next to her was a backpack overflowing with clothes that peeked out of a broken seam. It looked like the clothes had been gathered in a hurry and shoved inside without any attempt at order. 

Doing her best to not disturb their guest Peridot slipped past the sleeping woman and into the little hallway where her bedroom was. The white button down shirt, black slacks, and cheap tie that made up her work uniform were stripped away in a quick but efficient manner. First to be removed were her pants which she folded exactly three times before placing them on the floor near her closet. Next to go was the crappy clip on tie her company insisted she wear because it went with the image they wanted to convey. "Nerd Brigade clods", Peri muttered under her breath as she hung the offending garment from her closet door. "Everyone knows bow ties are vastly superior to neck ties in both the areas of style and confortability. The only thing a clip on says is that its wearer is so inept they can't even follow tying instructions properly." Last was the scratchy button down shirt with its too short sleeves and too large everything else. Being unusually tall for her gender meat Peridot was almost always cursed with ill fitting uniforms.

Clothes in their assigned place the room's owner stood bare save for a pair of white boxers sporting cartoon alien heads and a sports bra. The July heat made her reluctant to put on much more but ritual demanded she don her sleeping attire. An old pair of grey sweatpants were slid up her scrawny legs and tied around her slightly pudgy belly. Energy drinks had been her go to morning breakfast since senior year and the sugar was catching up to her. Perhaps it was time for her to take Garnet up on the offer to join her during workouts. While that quandary flitted through her brain another one rapidly shoved its way to the forefront. Saturdays were her day to veg in front of the television after work re-watching episodes of her favorite sitcom. Doing so now, with someone sleeping mere feet from the speakers, was all but impossible. Moments after that conclusion was reached a soft buzzing started at the edges of her hearing. Logically she knew the insectiod threat was nothing more than a figment of her imagination. The sound was nothing more than an auditory reinforcement of her self enforced behavior. That knowledge provided little comfort as the droning noise intensified. 

"Fuck", Peridot whispered screamed digging her wiry fingers into the yellow mass that was her hair. No matter how often she attempted to tame them her locks would always puff out into a vaguely triangular shape. "Look you can't watch CPH right now you'll wake that girl up and probably piss off Garnet. You've been working too hard anyway getting some extra sleep will be good for revitalizing you". She continued to mutter to herself as she paced around the darkened space between the end of her bed and her computer desk. "Come on Diamond this is fucking ridiculous they're episodes you've watched two hundred and sixteen times." Time lost all meaning as her legs moved; she had to tire herself out in order to stop the buzzing. Her scalp ached where her kitten like nails dug in adding pain to the mix meant to distract her. Sweat dripped uncomfortably down her bare back from the repetitive physical activity. Eventually the droning stopped and she was able to make herself climb under her UFO pattered sheets.


	2. Update

Sorry to anyone that was following this but I can't seem to find the motivation to write anymore. That might change bot for now I'm afraid this story is dead.


End file.
